1. Field of Use
This disclosure is generally directed to fuser members useful in electrophotographic imaging apparatuses, including digital, image on image, and the like. In addition, the fuser member described herein can also be used in a transfix apparatus in a solid ink jet printing machine.
2. Background
In the electrophotographic printing process, a toner image can be fixed or fused upon a support (e.g., a paper sheet) using a fuser roller. Conventional fusing technologies apply release agents/fuser oils to the fuser roller during the fusing operation in order to maintain good release properties of the fuser roller. For example, oil fusing technologies have been used for all high speed products in the entry production and production color market.
While perfluoroalkoxy polymer resin (PFA) is currently used in many topcoat formulations in fuser rollers and belts to yield excellent release, issues such as surface cracking, denting, and delamination limit the lifetime of PFA rollers and belts. It would be desirable to find a material combination for fuser rollers and belts that mitigates surface cracking, denting and delamination while providing excellent release.
Ceramic materials are well-known for their strength and durability, and the incorporation of a ceramic-like material into a high-performance fluoroplastic, such as Teflon®, as a topcoat for fuser rollers and belts has been attempted with some success. Extending oil-less fusing technologies to high speed printers, such as 100 pages per minute (ppm) or faster, while meeting a series of stringent system requirements, such as image quality, parts cost, reliability, long component life, etc., remains technically challenging.
In addition, in oil-less fusing, waxy toner is often used to aid release of the toner image. However, wax can be transferred to the fuser surface (e.g., polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) or Teflon®) and thus contaminate the fuser surface when using the conventional PTFE surface. For example, one frequently mentioned failure mode for PTFE oil-less fuser is called wax ghosting. The wax on the PTFE affects the image quality of the next print. It would be desirable to have a material combination that prevents this problem.